One last time up Everest

By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Thursday

May 31, 2007 at 4:36 AM

Paul F. Giorgio has climbed Mount Everest three times, so he knew what awaited him at its peak when he made his fourth trip — a cache of artifacts left behind by Sir Edmund Hillary more than 50 years ago.

What Mr. Giorgio didn’t expect was the toll it would take on his body. The experienced climber said this was likely his last climb.

“I accomplished what I wanted, but I maxed out my body,” he said as he sat Tuesday night — the 54th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s ascent to the peak — nursing frostbitten toes. He discussed the collection of artifacts he is planning to take on a world tour next year.

“I never knew what my threshold was until now,” said Mr. Giorgio.

Mr. Giorgio left at the end of March for his two-month journey to the Himalayas, and returned last week. Mr. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to climb to the top of Mount Everest; they returned safely May 29, 1953.

Mr. Giorgio made his first climb to the top of Mount Everest in 2000. He has returned since, each time adding to his collection of artifacts from Mr. Hillary’s camp. The purpose of this most recent trip was to cap off his collection, and he climbed to the peak three times during this latest expedition. Each trip from the base to the top takes five or six days.

“Each time I’ve gone, I’ve accumulated more and more,” said Mr. Giorgio. He has nearly two tons of artifacts. “This trip was to bring back everything.”

His collection includes oxygen cylinders used by Mr. Hillary and Mr. Norgay, ice axes, sunglasses and goggles used in the 1953 expedition, and a well-preserved tent used in 1953 as well. Mr. Giorgio obtained permission from Mr. Hillary to remove the remaining items from the top of the mountain, but he sent them in various directions, to avoid being caught with them — unaware if he could face a penalty. Most of the items are being kept in a secured, central location.

On his third trip to the top during this most recent expedition, Mr. Giorgio said, his body “ran out of gas,” and he got frostbite on eight of his toes. Mr. Giorgio made the decision to descend the mountain. With his body giving in to the conditions, Mr. Giorgio said, he fell asleep twice on the way down to one of the camps.

Mr. Giorgio said he has been hurt on climbs before — a broken vertebrae, snowblindness, and his kidneys even shut down once — but nothing like the beating his body took this time.

His body was so drained, he said, that he consumed four energy drinks, one of which usually provides a significant jolt — but they had no effect. Mr. Giorgio had to walk 50 miles with eight frozen toes. Doctors have told him his feet will heal, and that most of the damage appears to have affected the outer layers of skin.

“I never knew how much I could withstand, but I finally found that point, and pushed my body on so many different levels,” Mr. Giorgio said. “There was nothing left in the well; nothing to draw from.”

When he returned to the camp he slept 30 out of 32 hours, he said; he usually requires minimal sleep.

“At this point in time, I don’t think I will climb it again,” he said.

Despite the difficulties, Mr. Giorgio did return with memorable tales — of climbing with his friend, Phil Plouffe, a mailman from Connecticut, and of returning to the top of Mount Everest with a Red Sox jersey. He brought a team jersey with him in 2001, hoping to break the Curse of the Bambino. This year, he had a Daisuke Matsuzaka Red Sox shirt, given to him by some Japanese men who interviewed him. He took the jersey with him on one of his climbs to the top.

Mr. Giorgio said he and his agent are trying to launch his world tour to coincide with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Meanwhile, Mr. Giorgio was recently inducted to the Explorers Club, a worldwide organization with headquarters in New York City. He is one of 800 members worldwide, included among the likes of Mr. Hillary, and Neil Armstrong.

Mr. Giorgio says he has climbed five out of the seven peaks he set his sights on, the only ones remaining being Mount Vincent in Antarctica and Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia.

His next challenge may be the Amazon, though he has been approached by a Swedish climber to accompany him to the South and North poles.

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